OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP, MI -- Frequent visitors to the area around West Main and Drake roads might be surprised to learn of a piece of history hidden just behind the trees. Tucked away behind Hobby Lobby and Target and accessed only by a quarter-mile dirt road, sits the Drake Farmstead, the former home of one of the area's first settlers.

On Saturday, July 19, The Oshtemo Historical Society (OHS), formed in 2004 after saving the site from demolition, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a festival of games, music, cake and a decade of collected history.

"It's a disappearing way of life in the Kalamazoo area as there is more and more development," said Kathryn Steadman, a member of the OHS board of trustees. "There are fewer and fewer family farms and the township board thought it was important to preserve some history of the area by preserving the Drake house and developing a program around it."

OHS organizers will throw open the doors during the 10th anniversary, offering free admission to view the society's work to preserve the home, tour the collection of historic artifacts and learn the history of the family that once lived there.

"The Drake Family were one of the very first settlers," Steadman said. "If not the first, maybe the second or third, but very, very early. They settled before it was possible to actually register land."

The Society will host a scavenger hunt, bake sale, face painting and live music. Interested attendees can sign up to sell their own crafts and antiques by renting a table for $20, and the Kalamazoo Animal Rescue will be on hand for an adoption event.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and all activities are free of charge.

"The house will be open so everybody can see our projects," Steadman said. "It's a free event this year because we want as many people as possible to come visit us and see what we're doing, see the preservation we're doing and also talk to people about our plans for the future."

The Drake Farmstead was settled in the 1830s by Benjamin and Maria Drake who purchased the land from the government offices in White Pigeon for $1.25 per acre. At its largest size, the farmstead spanned over 500 acres between Oshtemo and Kalamazoo Townships.

The farmhouse was expanded and rebuilt in 1882 after a fire destroyed most of the building. The farmstead stayed in the family for two generations before being sold in 1901 to Thomas Stewart, who deeded it to his daughter upon his death. Portions of the land were sold or willed over the decades to commercial developers, Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College until only the farmhouse and carriage house remained.

"If anybody drives down Drake Road, they probably don't even know that it's tucked back in there," Steadman said. "When you get back in there, it's like you're back on a farm. It's very secluded. It's like you step back in time.

"We would like people to honor that way of life. It's a passing way of life, and we would like people to both know about it and respect that era in Kalamazoo's history."